Two-lane bowling alley, wiffle ball field, nine-hole mini-golf course, 24-seat HD movie theater, indoor slide, VR studio. Clemson University has certainly upped the ante when it comes to elite Division I football recruiting with its newly christened $55 million Football Operations Complex. The 142,500-sf facility, which opened just three weeks after Clemson’s national championship win over the University of Alabama, adjoins the indoor practice facility and outdoor practice fields, consolidating football operations into one complex. It is the largest football-specific facility in the U.S.
Designed by HOK (sports design architect) and GMC (architect of record), the facility serves as a home away from home for players and staff, with amenities that allow the student-athletes to train, study, and unwind in the same place. Performance spaces include hydrotherapy rooms (both polar and thermal plunge pools), a lap pool, steam room, weight and fitness training centers, a 175-seat auditorium, NFL scout room, and technology for weight tracking and body composition.
Additional leisure and entertainment amenities: outdoor basketball court, barbershop, volleyball and bocce courts, Gatorade fuel bar, and a Nike gear and championship display. It even has spaces dedicated for family visits, like an outdoor kitchen and grilling area, outdoor lounges with gas fire pits, a secluded bonfire pit with rocking chairs, a 20x20-foot inflatable screen for outdoor movies, an integrated family lounge in the player’s locker room, and a covered patio for 75 people.
DPR Construction was the GC on the project.
Courtesy HOK.
Courtesy HOK.
Related Stories
University Buildings | Sep 28, 2021
Designing for health sciences education: Specialty instruction and human anatomy labs
It is a careful balance within any educational facility to provide both multidisciplinary, multiuse spaces and special-use spaces that serve particular functions.
University Buildings | Sep 23, 2021
University of Washington’s new mass timber building tops out
LMN Architects designed the project.
University Buildings | Sep 7, 2021
Gateway to the West: Kansas City University Center for Medical Education Innovation
Kansas City University Center for Medical Education Innovation uses GKD Omega 1520 metal fabric.
Laboratories | Aug 31, 2021
Pandemic puts science and technology facilities at center stage
Expanding demand for labs and life science space is spurring new construction and improvements in existing buildings.
Giants 400 | Aug 30, 2021
2021 Giants 400 Report: Ranking the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S.
The 2021 Giants 400 Report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Giants 400 | Aug 26, 2021
2021 University Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the higher education sector
Gensler, AECOM, Turner Construction, and CannonDesign head BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest university sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
University Buildings | Aug 20, 2021
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s new STEM building breaks ground
HED designed the project.
University Buildings | Aug 19, 2021
School of Medicine completes on California University of Science and Medicine’s new Colton campus
The project was designed and built to address critical public health needs in an underserved region.
Resiliency | Aug 19, 2021
White paper outlines cost-effective flood protection approaches for building owners
A new white paper from Walter P Moore offers an in-depth review of the flood protection process and proven approaches.
University Buildings | Aug 12, 2021
Central Michigan University’s Chippewa Champions Center completes
The project was designed in partnership between Populous and GMB Architecture + Engineering.